RIP Trolling
I’m a professional forum troll. I’ll admit it. I’ve trolled things that most people wouldn’t think of mocking, and actively solicited the worst in people (that’s the trick - realize that the goal is to make people respond and make idiots of themselves).
Well, I haven’t trolled much for a long time. I probably won’t again, really, because the internet seems to be growing up. By “growing up” I mean “unveiling the anonymous.” It’s now a lot easier to figure out who someone is whenever they post something to a forum or chatroom. I’m not worried about the stereotypical idiot who says “where do you live? let’s fight;” I’m worried about the people who will google my name before talking to me.
In its infancy, the internet was a great place to exchange ideas, and sites employed (and still do) forms of moderation to keep things safe for the average reader. There’s a reason we don’t have moderators in the physical world. Nobody’s going to call your mother a fat pig, or explain to the rest of the room that you were born with a genetic defect that keeps you from forming coherent thoughts when discussing anything outside Nascar. Well, they might, but odds are they’ll feel pain for it.
I’ve found myself actively moderating my own comments lately, especially when it’s so easy for people to hear you with Twitter. It’s a little disappointing, but at the same time it means that we’ll get to start using the internets for productive communication instead of aimless rants. The moderation is also probably a sign that we’re going to have to work harder to hide things that we don’t want other people to know. Privacy is coming to an end, but that’s a whole different post.